


Royal Rebel

by la_reine_rouge



Series: The Royals [1]
Category: No Fandom
Genre: Dante and Elia are siblings, Elia and Mohaney are married, F/M, Lochester is a place I made up, Multi, Original Character(s), Other, Slow Build Relationships, Swearing, The Royals series, everyone has a British-y accent, i can do that, if you need a dictionary of characters let me know, it's around the British Isles, not fandom-related, please don't take them, royal child, these are my babies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-29 04:49:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11433492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/la_reine_rouge/pseuds/la_reine_rouge
Summary: Wild child Luka Cross had never expected to find herself in the limelight, despite her job as a singer at the local coffeehouse. However, life doesn't always turn out the way you expected it would, and it's not long into her final "carefree" summer that Luka's world is suddenly turned upside down. Her long-lost father resurfaces in the form of a duke who suddenly wants to be involved in her life. Even with her vehement protests, Luka is whisked off to the very distant isle of Lochester with her mother to "get reacquainted" and "learn her heritage." She has orders to behave herself and stay out of trouble but, of course, why would she do that? She is, after all, the rebellious child of a proud woman. Royalty or not, that won't change any time soon.





	Royal Rebel

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sketchingdoodlesandthings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sketchingdoodlesandthings/gifts).



> This is one of my favorite stories as of this time, so I would appreciate consideration in that regard. I formerly exclusively used Wattpad for my stories as that was the only site I trusted with my work, but after spending some time on AO3 I've decided that posting them here as well won't be that big of a deal. However, these characters are all copyrighted to me, as is this storyline, and if I find it or them anywhere else without prior permission, I will pull it and may potentially pursue charges.
> 
> Also, I am a very busy bee at the present moment, so please bear with me. Currently I am interning, taking summer classes (15 week courses condensed to 6.5), training my service dog, and potentially getting a job, all while also doing commissions and Christ knows what else. I will try to post at least once a week, but it maybe be closer to every other week.
> 
> Dedicated to my beloved Jessiebelle, who convinced me I should upload this here. <3

There's a moment in every person's life when everything changes. Many people experience a life-changing situation that alters everything they once knew, whether making it fact or making it fiction or just affecting the way they view the world. It happens all the time. Sometimes, in ways you wouldn't expect.

"Hey Lu, does this bra make my boobs look good?"

This was not one of those moments.

Huffing a sigh through purple-painted lips, Luka Cross raised her eyes from the notebook she was furiously scribbling in to study her friend as per her request. Rather, to study her chest, as that was all she could see. Her brilliantly blue eyes rolled back into her head before she reburied her face in her writing.

"Well, shit, Dee, I wouldn't know because they're close enough to my face that I can barely see them."

With a stern frown, Dee Sanders pulled back to study them herself instead. Apparently she saw what she wanted to, or didn't, because she just shrugged and disappeared back into the changing room. Luka shook her head as she returned her attention to her notebook. Why she had been dragged out onto this lingerie shopping trip, she hadn't the foggiest. The last time she had tried to look good for someone was over three years ago when she had her first (and last) boyfriend her freshman year of high school. After the way he'd treated her, and how he cheated on her with one of her good friends, Luka was far less inclined to dress nice for anyone ever again. 

"Luuu, how does this one look?" 

Once again, she raised her face from her book to look at her other friend before grimacing slightly in an effort not to laugh. Shan Matthews was laying it on thick, leaning against the doorway of the changing room with her body barely covered in skimpy green lace. It wasn't that it looked bad on her, the opposite in fact, but the expression on her face was laughable and it was obvious that she was only playing around with the way she pressed herself up against the frame. Luka promptly reburied her face in the book on her lap to the laughter of her friend, trying hard to not laugh herself. 

By the time the pair of them were done with their fun, Luka had written almost four full songs and they had their arms full of pieces they absolutely did not need and would probably return at least 92 percent of in the next few weeks. Dee poked her face incessantly in the check-out line, asking what she thought of their new lingerie and why she hadn't gotten any for herself, but she was studiously ignored. By the time they had paid for all the pieces (an absurd amount of money that made Luka cringe, and not very subtly) and walked out of the mall, it was about time for her to head to work and she was all too willing to make her escape. Her friends protested, loudly and crassly and making mothers scowl while they covered their children's ears, but Luka just waggled her fingers teasingly while she split off to head to Toodaloo.

Toodaloo was a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop located smack in the middle between two large office buildings and just a few miles off from the local community campus. As such, it was almost always full to the brim between the hours of 7 and 11 pm. People usually tapered off around then, though some stayed until well into the morning hours. It wasn't what Luka had expected to see when she first accepted a job here with her mother's longtime friend Elia Mooney, but it hadn't taken long for it to become the norm. Toodaloo was where people went when they needed to settle down and be alone to do their work, not just to wake up after a too-short night. It was like a second home for most, including the young woman who had all but grown up there.

The door jingled as she pushed it open, and as per usual the majority of those inside turned to her with wide smiles. A burly man stalked towards her and scooped her right up in his tree trunk arms, squeezing tight and shaking gently. Luka squawked like a bird and tried to wriggle free, shooting a look over his shoulder at the slim woman behind the counter. Elia looked up just in time and shook her head, sending her dark brown tresses into a tizzy.

"Dante, put her down," she chastised lightly. "She's not a chew toy." There was a rumble from deep within his chest that was almost a laugh as he finally lowered her to the ground. Luka scowled at him without malice.

"What do I look like to you, Dante?"

The large man furrowed his brows, a perfectly feigned look of confusion. "A tiny little girl, of course."

Luka wasn't sure whether to rage at him or laugh superiorly. "If I look like a tiny little girl and you're a big-ass grizzly bear, why do you always have to try and crush me against your barrel of a chest, hm?"   
The wicked grin that split Dante's face was just begging her to slap it off, but before she could do more than twitch her fingers, Elia cleared her throat and cocked a perfectly sculpted brow. Luka skulked over to the bar and sat with a huff on the stool.

"Your brother is an ass," she muttered under her breath as she scraped her wavy blue-and-purple hair back into a loose braid before tugging her beanie out of her back pocket, her eyes shooting over to glare at his back even though there wasn't any real fire behind it. Elia laughed lightly and patted her head like one would pat a sulking dog.

"C'mon, Lu, lighten up," she called as she bustled around to make a drink for her favorite, "you know you love him, so quit your pouting."

Luka didn't quit her pouting, not even when the dark haired woman laughed again and then finally slid a mug down the counter for her. She tried to keep it up while she took a sip, but it was almost impossible to keep a pout when drinking Elia's infamous black-and-white hot chocolate. Luka sighed in bliss even as she scalded her mouth on the hot liquid; Elia was already sliding down a glass of cool water to remedy the pain flaring up.

"You gonna sing tonight or just bus?" the dark-haired woman asked once she could feel her tongue again. Luka took another sip of water to coat her mouth before answering.

"I was thinking about bussing till 9 or 10 and then singing for a few hours." Luka's purpose at Toodaloo had several components: sometimes she cleaned off the tables and made sure they were ready for customers to use, sometimes she made drinks behind the counter, and sometimes she sat on a stool at the back of the coffee shop and sang acoustic covers to the patrons. Elia would leave it up to her what she wanted to do, except sometimes making drinks because she was notorious for burning herself on the equipment and "getting skin in the customer's drinks was bad for business."

"Hey, pipsqueak, get over here and help me with these boxes." 

Luka sighed at the sound of the deep grumble, debating with herself on whether she should ignore it or not. A throat was cleared behind her but she didn't turn around until the beanie was snatched off of her head. Then, indignantly, she whipped around with grabbing hands. Mohaney, however, held her cream hat just out of reach with his infamous scowl marring his potentially handsome features.

"Give me my hat back, you gargantuan!" Okay, so Mohaney wasn't a "gargantuan," not any more than most other American men, but at a solid six-foot-five-inches, he definitely was on the taller side. Dante was taller at six-foot-eight-inches, and Elia was just four inches shorter than Mohaney at six-foot-one, but since Luka was only five-foot-six, well... Calling the others "gargantuan" made her feel better about her smaller stature, even though she was technically average-sized. Especially since Mohaney loved to lord over his extra foot on her.

Mohaney held the beanie higher, sufficiently out of reach even as she tried to perch precariously on the stool to reach it. Behind her there was a heavy sigh, and his dark eyes flicked to its source. It seemed there was a silent conversation over her shoulder before she was finally handed her beanie back, albeit reluctantly. Luka smooshed it onto her head and turned around to stare at Elia with beseeching eyes. 

"Eeeliii, make him apologize!" She was nothing if not a champion pouter, and she was milking it for all it was worth. Alas, Elia had seen her pouting for far too long for it to still affect her. The dark-haired woman barely paid her any mind while she turned away and waved her off to do her job. Mohaney all but scooped her up under his arm and toted her off to the aforementioned boxes.

"Grab those and help me move them back to the office," he grumbled as he picked up a stack and started off. Luka pouted a bit (a lot) more before she picked up two and grunted under the unexpected weight. She was pretty strong, sure, that's what happened when you had a one-hundred-pound dog who liked to pull and when your closest father figure believed in fitness to an almost obsessive degree. However, that didn't mean she was strong like bull, or apparently Mohaney, for that matter. She was trying to figure out how to put them back down without dropping either when one was suddenly lifted out of sight. Luka could have sworn her eyes started watering as she stared up into Mohaney's dark face. He didn't say anything as he placed it atop some others and carried them off, and Luka trotted after him like a puppy with her single.

A few trips later, and all the boxes were back in the office. Mohaney patted her head before slipping away to do god knows what as per usual, and Luka headed out to the tables to clear off those with stuff on them. It was only 7:30 still, so she had plenty of time to bus tables and maybe write some more songs in her breaks. That was, until Dante demanded she help him with the organizing in the mugs littering the back rooms. Toodaloo was infamous for its variety of mugs, ranging from vintage-looking china to things Eli found in garage sales for a buck-fifty. However, because of their wide variety (and Elia's obsession with purchasing them), they often had far too many scattered around and had to change some out because they were cheap and shitty. In total, Luka supposed they probably had over two hundred mugs and used about fifty of them on a daily basis. Not counting those that broke or chipped, that was. There'd been plenty of times where Elia had been making a drink and the mug had all but exploded in her hand because it was made of just cheap plaster. Luka wished she could say that was a rare experience, but in actuality it was more of a badge of honor. You weren't a Toodaloo regular until your drink mug shattered.

While she helped sort through the variety of mugs and dishes they had accumulated over the years, it was simply natural for the young woman to start humming to pass the time. From there her humming evolved into singing under her breath, which eventually turned into belting out her favorite tunes at the top of her lungs. Dante didn't complain at all; in fact, if she was being honest, Luka was pretty sure he was her number one fan when it came to her music. It was reassuring to have someone so entranced by her songs, so much so that she didn't even care anymore that she would probably never become a rock star. It had been a pipe dream in a past life, anyways.

It took longer than she had expected to try and sort the dishes by type and size and material, so when Elia poked her head into the back to ask for help bussing tables Luka had jumped slightly before looking at the clock. 8:45. She'd been in the back for well over an hour. Immediately she lunged to her feet and darted back out to the dining area. Luckily, there was only a handful or two of tables that needed bussing, which meant Elia had probably been handling it in her absence, but based on the line that was beginning to form Luka knew it was no longer possible for her to do both. With bright smiles and nods to the regulars, she bustled about cleaning off the dirty tables and inviting new arrivals over to the newly available space. 

By the time the line had settled down, it was going on 10 o'clock and Luka was trying hard not to pant. The only problem with working at Toodaloo was that she was the only one who worked the floor. Dante was always in the back, doing the dishes and making the desserts, because his big lumberjack body didn't fit well between tables. Mohaney wasn't very "customer friendly" so he was always in the office, organizing things that didn't need organizing and doing the books. And then Elia, she was making drinks whenever there was a line, and not much else. When there was a line, it was all she could do. Thus, the youngest, smallest member of the Toodaloo family had to be the one doing all the back-breaking labor. Not that she really minded all that much; she certainly never had to do work out outside of actual work and she loved seeing the regulars and hearing about their days, their families, their lives. As she was wiping down a table, a familiar tune came to her mind and, naturally, it couldn't stay there. 

_"Let's start at the end,_  
_Becoming strangers once again,_  
_Or maybe that's all we ever were..."_

As she moved around the coffee shop, she could feel the various eyes flitting to her. This was the thing so many returned for, so she didn't really mind. When the hustle and bustle finally settled down, the "singing server" would come out and put on a show. As she passed one table with a group of regular college students, Luka couldn't help but smile when she saw them taking a break from their furious work to enjoy their drinks and breathe and listen. She cleaned their empty plates off the table while she continued.

 _"Cuz I've been running marathons,_  
_While you're still standing still,_  
_And I'll be anything for you,_  
_But I'll never fit the bill..."_  
In the background, she could hear the faintest of twangs from the old guitar that cued her in. With a near blinding smile, Luka spun around to look at Mohaney, who had seated himself on the three-legged stool in the corner and was strumming gently along with her. She skipped over to his side and leaned against him lightly. Music was the only thing that they never fought over. Luka laid her head against his shoulder and belted out the chorus. 

_"Cuz I'm irrelevant,_  
_You'll be fine without me,_  
_And it's evident,_  
_It shows,_  
_And in your excellence,_  
_I forgot I used to have my own,_  
_You won't even notice that I'm gone..."_  
For the rest of the night, Luka skipped around the slowly emptying coffee shop and continued singing her favorite songs with Mohaney's light accompaniment. It wasn't long before there was only a handful of people left, one of which had been writing furiously since she'd started singing. Her curiosity piqued, Luka walked over to the table.

"Are you done with your plates?" The woman jumped in surprise at her voice, however, and Luka immediately held up her hands and flashed a bashful smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!" She cocked her head and smiled a little wider. "That involved in your writing, huh? Is it an essay or are you a reporter?"

The woman blinked up at her with wide green eyes before she finally smiled and extended her hand. "Marilyn Crowe, reporter for the local Post. You have a mighty beautiful voice there, miss...?"

"Luka, Luka Cross." She took the proffered hand with another smile. "Thank you, I really appreciate it!"

Marilyn nodded as her eyes fell down to her necklace. "A might interesting emblem there, too. Where'd you get that?"

Luka looked down with faint surprise at the charm. "My mother gave it to me when I was young, I've had it for as long as I can remember." She fingered the filigree detailing the design. "She said my father gave it to her once upon a time, but she wanted me to have it because I was always trying to take it off her neck when I was a baby." 

With another nod, Marilyn leaned forward slightly, looking intensely interested in their conversation suddenly. "Say, how old are you, Luka? I'd say eighteen, but that could be just me."

"You're good!" Luka laughed a bit as she shifted the tray of dishes to her other hand. "I just turned eighteen not that long ago. Most people guess I'm closer to twenty, though. What clued you in?"

Marilyn's eyes sparkled. "You just have that youthful look about you. Cute but still mature." They laughed together for a bit before she heard her name being called. With another smile Luka said her goodbyes and walked away, leaving the woman to her furious typing.

Elia was behind the counter wiping out mugs when she arrived, like she usually was at the end of the day. Her hazel eyes, however, were narrowed slightly and focused solely on Marilyn. Luka frowned as she leaned against the bar. "What's up, Eli?"

"Who was that?" Elia asked conversationally, but Luka knew her well enough to know that the tone she was using was her skeptical "my darling dear's in trouble." She sighed and tossed her blue and purple curls, the cause of an accidental dye job that she decided to stick with.

"Just a reporter, Eli," Luka placated with a motion of her hand. "She complimented my singing and mentioned my pendant. It doesn't mean she's going to come to my house and try to kill me." Okay, so her last stalker hadn't tried to kill her (at least, not before he was caught), but that was beside the point. Elia, however, didn't look placated. 

"A reporter, huh?" The intelligent hazel eyes flickered down to the charm hanging around her neck and darkened slightly. "What was she reporting about?"

Luka paused, brows furrowing. "I don't know, I didn't ask."

That seemed to put the brunette woman even more on edge as she suddenly looked around the building. When her eyes stayed in one place for more than a few seconds, Luka turned around to follow her gaze. Dante had emerged from his den and was looking back at his sister, and without saying anything to each other the broad man suddenly nodded and headed out the door like a jack knife being flipped. The bell on the door clanged raucously. It was then that Luka realized she'd heard the sound while she and Elia were talking, and her blue eyes immediately went to where Marilyn had been sitting. The reporter was gone. Luka was worried. When she looked back at Elia, the brunette was stern.

"Lu, go home. Wait for Dante outside and have him walk you to your car. Go home and tell your mother it's time, she'll know what that means."

Luka's eyes widened. "Time? Time for what? Eli, c'mon, what's happening?"

Elia's eyes brooked no argument. "Go, Luka. Now."

For a split second, the young woman was ready to argue anyways, for no other reason than that she could, but then bit her tongue and deposited her tray on the bar moodily. She pulled off her apron and nabbed her keys from the front pocket before stalking out the door. Dante wasn't in the parking lot any more, but that didn't matter. She didn't need a chaperone to her car, even when she was feeling a little spooked about the whole situation. Luka took the back alleys to get back to the old rusty beauty waiting for her. Her 1992 Mustang might have had more bad days than good, but she loved the old thing almost as much as she loved her dog even if the boxy frame was a bit (lot) outdated. Plus, it was the car her parents shared so many memories in, some admittedly that Luka didn't ever want to know but that was besides the point.

There was only one other car in the garage still, a big black SUV with dark windows. Huffing a sigh, the young woman slowly wiggled her keys in between her fingers. If only she hadn't run out of pepper spray and forgotten to refill it, she'd feel a lot better about her current situation. Serves her right, she supposed.

Keeping a careful eye on any and all movements from the SUV, Luka messed around with her keys for a heartbeat before unlocking just her driver's side door and sliding in quickly. The second her door latched she relocked it, checked her windows, and then spun around to check her backseat. Once she was sure no one besides herself was in the car she sighed again, this time more relaxed, and shot a quick glance into her rearview mirror at the black beast idling behind her. There had been no movement from it, so she began to back out of her space slowly, ready to come slamming to a stop if necessary. However the SUV didn't move either, so Luka quickly gunned it out of the spot to make sure it didn't "accidentally" hit her and drove off towards the exit. A glance in the rearview mirror told her that the SUV wasn't following, and so she eased off the gas. 

That seemed to have been the least of her worries.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like it! Post any questions, comments, or concerns in the comments below. Kudos are much appreciated!


End file.
